Card dealing device



y 1935- R. c SMITH 2,001,220

CARD DEALING DEVICE Fiied Jan. 6, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 gwumtoz Rl'chard C 51771712 May 14, 1935. R. c $M|TH 2,001,220

CARD DEALING DEVICE Filed Jan. 6, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 EicharaCSmilZ Patented May 14, 1935 UNITED STATES:

13 Claims.

My invention relates to devices for mechanically dealing cards-that is to say, dividingv a previously shuflled deck by delivery of the cards in regular succession into a plurality of groups. The device should be distinguished from shuflling machineswherein it is the intention to distribute cards differently throughout a deck by distributing them irregularly into one or several groups formed from the original deck, and then consolidating these groups, if more than one are formed.

It is an object of my present invention to devise a machine of the character indicated which can be inexpensively constructed, to the end that it canbe sold at a price attractive to the large group of those who play for amusement, and can be built in large quantities.

It is an object, then, to devise such a machine byrmeans of which the cards are delivered one by one, and which has means for positively intercepting-and holding back cards inexcess of the one which is intended to be delivered.

It is a further object to devise a receiving device for employment in such a dealing machine, and to provide means for presenting the several compartments in succession in position to receive the successively delivered single cards, so that; for instance, four hands maybe dealt, the cards being delivered in recurring succession to the several compartments, ready for play. 7

Other objects, and more especially such as deal particularly with the mechanical details of my invention, will be best understood as thisspecification progresses. I

My invention comprisesthe novel parts, and

. the novel combination and arrangement thereof,

as shown in the accompanying drawings, described inzthespecification, and as will be more particularly: defined by the claims which terminate-the same.

In the accompany ng r wings I have shown my invention embodied in a form which at present is preferred by me, it being understood'that the principles thereof may be otherwise embodied, within the scope of the claims.

Figure l'is a plan view of the complete machine,

and Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section therethrough on the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure2, showing parts in a position assumed during the delivery of acard, and Figure 4'is asimilar view, taken on the line 4'4.of Figure 1, showing a further stage in theldelivery of a card.

.gure 5 isa transverse vertical section through themachineon the line 5-5 of Figure 1, and

Figure dis a cros's section throughthe hopper on the line 6-45 of Figure 1.v

Essentially the device comprises a hopper to receive a deck of cards, a seriesof compartments to receive the cards insuccession, means to move the compartments so that the successively presented cards are received in; difl'erent compartments, in regular rotation, andmeansto handle the cards, first to project them from thelhopper,

moving the-lowermost-card first, then insuring that only thelowermost card will be further advanced, then engaging and feeding forward this lowermost. card for, delivery to the compartment then presented, Theseveral parts are timedtogether soas to accomplishthe end in view, which isthe distribution of vthe' deck of cards, or any portionthereof, into a given number of hands, eachof anzequal-number of cards. The machine may be designed to deliver any number of hands, within reason, and may deal out the entire deck or any portion thereof. I Let-usassume that itisintended that. the ma:- chine shall deal four bridge hands from a deck. Aureceiving box I is divided. into a; plurality; of compartments ll,- 12, l31and Hi. In orderto support this box fromthe frame. 9, or a bracket 9|, upstanding therefrom, I may provide an arm or arms I!) pivotedat. l5 atsuch adistance from theentrance. to the compartments ll, I2, 'l3

and. M as tov flattenthearc. of swing thereof to a considerable extent,,and to lessen the size of a cam l whichmoves the same, as will be explained hereafter. Thebox hasa pin l6 pro jecting therefrom between the; entrance tothe compartments and the pivot point l5, for engagement withthis cam.

At the oppositeend'ofthe frame isjsupported the hopper, and as illustratedin Figure 6, this maycomprise a rectangular frame 2- having the cover- 20with flanges 21 in whichthe deck may bereceived when the cover. is removed, and which may be then inverted. within the hopper "2. The hopper. is providedwith flanges 22 at its lower sidetosupport a deck of cardsD. A weight 23, I with ani als-24. projecting through. the top 20, may be employed to presslthe cards down to" the bottom of-the hopper. The bottom of the hopper otherwise is open, and the hopper, has a slot 25 at the bottom of'one. side through. which it is intended that single cards shallibe. discharged. t

T M P) 2 Y grip between this card and the one above it, and will cause the same to be withdrawn from beneath the deck, and to be projected through the slot 25. Movement of the platform may be accomplished in various ways, for instance, by means of a downwardly projecting fin 32 having a vertical slot 33 in which is engaged a crank pin 43 upon an arm 42, which arm is rotatableby means of a crank handle 4 (see Figures 1 and 5). Both the armAZ and the crank handle 14 are secured upon-the shaft 4|. J. "i.

Likewise secured upon this shaft 4| is a drive wheel such as the gear 50, through a chain drive, indicated at 51, a hold-back roller a shaft 52, which may be supported forgslight vertical movement in frame, and which in such upward above the plane of C by means such as to rotate than the tendency of-the 'r'o'llerf5 to move it or' hold it back,=but if a card,'-such as the card in Figure 3,'rests upon a lower card'C, the frictional' grip on the under-surface of the upper card Cfwill be less than the grip of the roller tending to hold it back, and consequently only the lowermost card in eachinstance will be moved past the hold-back roller'5.

Suchmovementof the roller S'intoengagemerit v rith the cards may be I accomplishedin various -'ways, for instance, by providing a nose 35 upon the fin 32, this'nosebeing engageable with an inclined cam-member 55"ccnnected by an arm 54 to the shaft' 52. These members-are so positione'd' that the cards' uponthe platform will have their leading :edg'esadvanced beyond the roller 5 before theroller isfbrought"down into "engagement ther'ewith, for ifthe roller were to engage with the leading edge of afsi'ngle card C, the engagement with the edge might: be sufficient in some-cases to'overcome the frictional grip of the platform 3 :upon-the' card,'and it would be thus heldback and the dear would be incorrect. l a 1 After the cards have been thus-projected',-and excess cards held back; 5 the lowermost 'card- C will be passed bythe latter portion of theplatforms advance between rollers 6 andtll which act as feedrollers to complete the withdrawal of the card from'the hopper and from-engagement with the platform and"hold -back roller. The roller 6 may be frictionally engaged by the roller 5 to cause rotationof the roller 6,- and the rollers 5 and 60 may befrictionally engaged with each other, as is common infeed"rollers."-'- LIn order to present the-several compartments H, l2,l3 and 14 into such pos'itio'n'as toreceive a card advanced between the feed-rollers 5' and 60,,Imay: provide cam means,- generally indicated at s'i,upon a shaft-l0, this-cam means being formedfor engagement with the pin=' l6, previ"- ously referred to,'to advance the -box -lS step byfstep from'one position" ;to1an0ther -through' a recurring cycle, and thus I have. shown the sevwhich is connected 5. This roller is secured upon sion by turning the vertical slots 95 of the caseis' yielding'ly held movement; of, a card 1 3 the spring 53. This holds the" roller 5 normally above the plane of move-- It is believed that the sealer of use of my device will now be apparent. Cards are placed in the hopper 2, are

delivered one by one into the compartments ll, l2, l3 and M in succescrank handle 4, and when the dealing iscompleted the several hands are removed from the end of the box I (see Figure 1).

What I- claim as my invention is:

1. In a card dealing machine, in combination, a bottomless hopper to receive a deck of cards,

a-reciprocatory platform supporting cards in the hopper and spaced fromthelower edge of the" hopper at one side to leave a 'dischargeslottherebetweemsaid platform being movable past said edge of the hopper to engage and project through the slot the lowermost card from the deck, meansdisposed above a card or cards thus projected to hold back all except the lowermost card, means to engage such projected lowermost card and-to advance it, a' plurality" of receiving compartments, and means timedwith-the card projecting and advancing means to move-the-compartments in turn into position to receive successively ad'- vanced cards.

2 A card delivering machine comprising, in combination, means to hold a deck of cards, means to remove and advance --cards=-from the" deck one at a time, a roller disposed adjacent the pathof movement of such cards, rotating contra to the movement of the 'cards, and eng'ageable therewith to frictionallyhold back all cards in excessof'one. H r

3. Afcard delivering machinecompri'sing, m combination, means .to hold a deck of: cards, means frictionally engaging one faceof a card to remove and advance it from the deck,-a roller disposed a'd 'acent-the'path' of movement of such cards, rotating contraito-the movement ofthe cards, and engageable with the face opposite that engaged by the removing andadvancing means, with a lessforce, to frictionally engage and hold back all cards in excess of that one engaged by the removing and advancing means.

4...In. a card dealing machine; in"combination, meansto hold adeckof cards, means to remove andadvancele cards from the deck one atla'time, meanssto positively hold back all cards in iexc'ess of one, means to withhold engagement of such means until the leadingfedge'of a card has passed the same, a plurality of compartments, and means timed with the card removingand ad vancing means to' bring the several compart ments and successivecardsinto registry, to .deliver successive cards-in; rotationinto the several e a m 5. A carddelivering machine comprising, in combination, .means .to hold. a deck of cards,

means to remove and'advance'cards from the deckone" t a time,a roller disposed adjacent the path of movement of such cardSQrOtating contra to the movement of the cards anjd en-jv gageable therewith to. frictionally hold back all cards in excess of one, spring meansnormally withholding said roller from-engagement with 1 is accomplished the cards, and means to engage said roller after the leading edge of the cards has passed the same.

6. A card dealing machine comprising, in combination, means to hold a deck of cards, means to remove and advance cards from the deck one at a time, a receiving box divided into a plurality of compartments, an arm supporting said box for oscillatory movement, a rotary cam and means on the box cooperating therewith to move the box through successive positions where a newly presented card is received in the several compartments in recurring succession, a ratchet wheel associated with the cam, and a pawl engageable therewith to feed the same step by step, corresponding to the spacing of the compartments, and said pawl being connected for reciprocation to the card removing and advancing means.

7. A card delivering machine comprising, in combination, a bottomless hopper to receive a deck of cards, a reciprocatory platform supporting cards in the hopper and spaced from the lower edge of the hopper at one Side to leave a discharge slot therebetween, said platform being movable beneath the deck and past said edge of the hopper to frictionally engage and project 'through the slot the lowermost card from the deck, a pair of rotatable feed rollers disposed to engage the opposite. faces of a card thus projected, and a hold-back roller having lesser frictional characteristics than said platform, disposed to frictionally engage the upper face of a card prior to its engagement by said feed rollers, to prevent such engagement except as said platform engages the card to overcome the holding action of said hold-back roller, the upper of said feed rollers being engaged for rotation with said hold-back roller.

8. A card delivering machine comprising, in combination, a hopper to receive a deck of cards, and having a discharge slot at the bottom of one side, a reciprocatory platform movable beneath the deck and past said slot to engage and project through the slot the lower most card from the deck, a pair of feed rollers disposed to engage the opposite faces of a card thus projected, means to rotate said rollers to advance the card, a holdback roller disposed to engage the upper face of a card prior to its engagement by said feed rollers, said hold-back roller being engaged for rotation with the upper of said feed rollers, means supporting said hold-back roller normally above the plane of the cards movement, and means movable with the platform and complemental means associated with'the rollers support for drawing the roller down into engagement with the card after its leading edge has passed.

9. In a card dealing machine, in combination, a frame, a hopper carried thereby to receive a deck of cards, and having a discharge slot at the bottom of one side, a platform guided in' I the frame for horizontal reciprocation transversely beneath the hopper, and frictionally engaging the lowermost through the slot, a hold-back roller disposed above and engageable projected, a common means to reciprocate said platform and to rotate said roller in a direction opposite the cards movement, said roller by frictional contact holding back all the one engaged by the platform, a pair of feed rollers connected for rotation to the hold-back roller, to receive between them and to advance a card projected by the platform, a receiving box divided into compartments and supported from the frame formovement to'present the compartments in recurring succession in position to receive successive cards advanced by the feed roller, cam means to move said box step by step from each receiving position to the next, a ratchet wheel associated with said cam means, and a pawl secured to and reciprocable with the platform to advance said ratchet wheel and cam.

10. A card dealing machine as in claim 9, in which the hold-back roller is normally yieldingly held upraised above the plane of movement of the card, cam means associated with said holdback roller, and complemental means upon the carriage engageable with such cam means to depress the hold-back roller into engagement with the card after its leading edge has passed.

11. In a card delivering machine, in combination, means to hold a deck of cards, means to project cards from the deck, and means engageable with projected cards, and movable contra to the movement of the cards as projected, to hold back all cards projected in excess of one.

endwise movement, said latter means having an edge across which the cards are moved in delivering them, means to project cards from the deck across such edge, and means to positively hold back all cards projected in excess of one.

RICHARD C. SMITH.

card and projecting itwith a card or cards so.

cards in excess of 

